We are excited to announce the third year of Human Rights Initiative (HRI) Research Funding for faculty research projects that are designed to advance the study and protection of human rights. The HRI calls on faculty from the University of Minnesota to submit, by October 17, 2018, one-year funding proposals for grants between $10,000 and $50,000 that promote the scholarly and artistic activities of the faculty and their graduate students and that foster academic excellence in the field of human rights at the global and local levels.

We express our sorrow at the loss of Arvonne Fraser, who died on August 7, 2018.  Fraser was a visionary, a leader and a friend to the human rights community in Minnesota and around the world. She was, and will continue to be, a role model and mentor for generations of human rights activists. Barbara Frey, director of the Human Rights Program, observed, “Arvonne’s steadfast moral leadership through every phase of her life inspired us deeply, here in Minnesota and around the world.”

From Minneapolis to Nairobi, our students are participating in human rights work across the globe. This summer, the Human Rights Program is providing funding to 15 students working in human rights placements where they are gaining hands-on experience in areas of individual interest, such as women’s rights, impunity around enforced disappearances, and refugee issues.

Passionate about the intersections of literature, human rights, and education, Aleisha Smith has a dizzying number of questions left to explore. We sat down with her to get to know her and discuss her past work, academic interests and experience as a Human Rights minor.

Professor Serra Hakyemez hit the ground running in her first year at the University of Minnesota. With a joint appointment in Anthropology and the Institute for Global Studies, she brought her expertise surrounding the Kurdish Movement in Turkey to her classes.

MHR student Ben Gronowski talks about why he choose to spend his spring break providing assistance to immigrants in detention and their families

Research Assistant Heider Tun Tun travelled to Guatemala to help find truthful, reliable data about the IDP crisis in El Salvador. The work assisted Prof. McNamara in his HRI grant project, "From IDPs to Refugees: Forced Migration in El Salvador."

The Human Rights Initiative Grants supported RAs Kayla Goldfarb and Gemechu Mekonnen as they contributed research to Professor Creamer's project on self-reporting with human rights treaties. They not only learned about the human rights-focused work, but also what they hope to do with their careers after they achieve their respective degrees.

This project is an extensive investigation into governments’ voluntary provision of information related to human rights treaties. While Creamer recognizes the ostensible pitfalls of self-reporting, her project chooses not to simply dismiss the procedure entirely, but rather to “develop an approach that takes seriously the concept of self-monitoring, learning, and constructive dialogue.”